Our research

The “Research” section of our personal website covers our published work in academic dance research (ethnography, anthropology and ethnochoreology) and our involvement in local dance practice.

Please see our website at eliznik.org.uk for dance, costume, music and ethnography.

Academia.eduYou can find on us Academic.edu – Liz Mellish and Nick Green – where many papers are available, just follow the link to Academia.edu below the abstract.

Our ongoing research projects include:

  • Festivals and contemporary festivities in Banat
  • Romanian dancers and dance ensembles – lives and histories
  • The history and connections of Balkan dancing in the UK

We are active members of two ICTM study groups

Paydushka – motif structure and dance phrase length

The name “paydushka” (пайдушка) is both a generic term which is applied to various different dance types in the “short-long” rhythm, and a name given to a popular dance in this rhythm, which is widespread in Bulgarian and adjacent countries.. These dances and their variations are built from a limited number of patterns of very few motifs. Culturally concordance with the music is not required which leads to the dance phrase length in musical measures being dependent on the sequence of patterns.

Stories of the 17th century Ilmington morris

Chandler tells us of an oral story that during the 17th century there was a Morris dance team from the village of Ilmington which performed at the famous Dover’s Games,
“To the accompaniment of the old tabor and pipe they danced for a week to the delight of all, their favourite pieces being ‘Shepherd’s Hey, and Heigh-ho to the Cotswolds.”

Bob Leibman’s notation of weight-shift patterns in Balkan dances

Bob Leibman (a mathematician by profession) formulated a system based on his research of southern and western Balkan dances. Using Bob Leibman’s system to notate step “weight changes” we end up with a simple concept that generally remains invariant between different variants within a family of dances – for example Serbian Kolo 0111, Romanian Hora 1101, the ubiquitous Balkan dance 011 etc.

Dance transmission in contemporary Romania: Continuity, motivation and mentors

This paper explores the transmission of local dance knowledge in contemporary Romania by focussing on ‘motivation’ and ‘continuity’ as key parameters. We examine the methods currently used by dancers to acquire their local dance knowledge; the dance experience of the teachers and mentors who transmit this knowledge; and the situations …read more

Călușul at Rusalii and its overlapping contexts

The căluș ritual of southern Romania (also found in certain villages in northern Bulgaria) takes place every year at the time of Rusalii (Pentecost, 50 days after Orthodox Easter).  The căluș has drawn the attention of many researchers, from a range of backgrounds and disciplines including folklorists, religious historians (spiritual …read more

Publications by Vera Proca Ciortea

Head of dance research at the Institute of Folklore (Bucharest). Vera Proca-Ciortea (1915-2002) from Sibiu studied at the National Academy of Physical Education in Bucharest (1932-1936), then further in Berlin (1937-1938) and again in Germany (1962-1981). She was a lecturer at the Institute of Physical Education, a university professor at …read more

Publications by Emanuela Bălăci

Dance researcher at the Institute of Folklore (Bucharest). Emanuela Bălăci (born 1930) studied at School of Choreography in Sibiu, and was a teacher at the School of Art in Sibiu (1952-1953), and then a folklorist-choreographer at Institute of Folklore (Bucharest) from 1953-1972, leaving to live in Germany from 1973. Her …read more